Film fan meets the stars at BAFTAs

FILM buff Jack Callaghan rubbed shoulders with A-list celebrities once again when he took to the red carpet for the BAFTAs to interview film stars.

The 14-year-old, of Church Street in Great Bedwyn, is an ambassador for the educational charity Into Film, formerly known as Film Club, which encourages children to take a greater interest in the film industry and write online reviews.

Jack, a pupil at St John’s School, has been involved with the charity since he was 11 and previously he has interviewed Michael Caine, Matt Lucas and Elton John to name but a few.

Now he can add Steve McQueen, director of 12 Years of Slave, and Son of Rambow actor Will Pouter to his growing list of celebrity interviewees.

“This is the best thing I’ve done so far,” he said “I’ve done a lot of film premieres but I’ve never done an awards ceremony before.

“They’re quite similar except that usually at film premieres the red carpet is blocked off whereas at the BAFTAs the public were allowed on the red carpet so there was a lot of shouting and it was very loud and frantic.

“I think if it had been the first thing I’d done I’d have been really nervous.

“When I do a red carpet my friends just think ‘oh that’s another thing Jack’s done’ but with the BAFTAs they were all quite jealous.”

After hitting the red carpet Jack was whisked over to the winners’ press conference.

He said: “Usually there’s a star that stands out but this time they were all really good.

“I’ve been told a lot that it’s quite strange to see a 14 year-old waving a microphone around but it’s all really good experience. Even if it’s not something I go into it will still be going on my CV.

“I watched a lot of the films before and we had a four hour briefing before as well. It was a really long day because I didn’t finish until about 1.15am and I’d set out at 7am so I was quite tired by the end of it.”